17.2: Java and Cambodia

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The Java Culture

The art of Java is the result of a complex cultural mixture that is very different from the original indigenous cultures.

Learning Objectives

Describe the Wayang puppet shows, gamelan music, and silat martial art of Java

Key Takeaways

Key Points

The culture of Indonesia has been shaped by its long interactions between original indigenous customs and multiple foreign influences.
Wayang is a Javanese word for particular kinds of shadow puppet theater. Performances of shadow puppet theater are accompanied by a gamelan orchestra in Java.
Gamelan is a traditional musical ensemble from Indonesia featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, kendang (drums), gongs, bamboo flutes, and bowed and plucked strings.
The martial art of silat was created and first developed in the islands of Java and Sumatra; it is an art for survival and practiced throughout Indonesian archipelago .
Java culture is known for its advances in blacksmithing and wood carving for both tools and cultural objects.
Architecture in Java is notable for its trapezoidal roof patterns and pendopo, or pavilions with open sides and four large pillars .

Key Terms

wayang: An Indonesian puppet or shadow puppet, or the theater of such puppetry.
gamelan: A genre of music of Indonesian origin that typically features metallophones, xylophones, drums, gongs, and bamboo flute.

Introduction: The Culture of Java

The culture of the Javanese ethnic group in Indonesia is entered in the Central Java, Yogyakarta, and East Java provinces. Due to various migrations, it can also be found in other parts of the world, such as Suriname (where 15% of the population are of Javanese descent), the broader Indonesian archipelago region, Cape Malay, Malaysia, Singapore, Netherlands, and other countries.

The culture of Java has been shaped by its long interactions between original indigenous customs and multiple foreign influences. Indonesia is centrally located along ancient trading routes between the Far East and the Middle East; as a result, many cultural practices are strongly influenced by a multitude of local religions. These include Hinduism , Buddhism , Confucianism , Islam , and Christianity, all of which are strong in the major trading cities. The result is a complex cultural mixture that is very different from the original indigenous cultures.

A cultural mingling occurred in the southwestern part of Central Java and brought together Javanese culture and Sundanese culture to create the Banyumasan culture. This area was also named the Banyumasan region.

In the central Javanese court cities of Yogyakarta and Surakarta, contemporary kings trace their lineages back to the pre-colonial Islamic kingdoms that ruled the region, making those places especially strong repositories of classical Javanese culture. The classic arts of Java include wayang puppet shows, gamelan music, and the martial art silat.

Java Art

Wayang Theater

Wayang is a Javanese word for a theatrical performance with puppets or human dancers. The term wayang is the Javanese word for shadow; in modern daily Javanese and Indonesian vocabulary, wayang is most often associated with the puppet itself or the whole puppet theater performance.

Performances of shadow puppet theatre are accompanied by a gamelan orchestra in Java (a musical ensemble made up of mostly percussion instruments).

This current-day photo shows a backstage view of a wayang performance. The wayang kulit performance by the famous Indonesian dalang (puppet master) Ki Manteb Sudharsono, with the story Gathutkaca Winisuda. — Wayang performance: The Wayang Kulit performance by an Indonesian famous dalang (puppet master) Ki Manteb Sudharsono, with the story Gathutkaca Winisuda.

Wayang kulit, or shadow puppets, are without a doubt the best known of the Indonesian wayang. Kulit means skin and refers to the leather construction of the puppets that are carefully chiseled with very fine tools and supported with carefully shaped buffalo horn handles and control rods. The handwork involved in making a wayang kulit figure that is suitable for a performance takes several weeks, with the artists working together in groups.

The stories are usually drawn from the Hindu epics, such as the Ramayana or the Mahabharata, or from the Serat Menak (a story about the heroism of Amir Hamza). Historically, the performance consisted of shadows cast on a cotton screen and an oil lamp. Today, the source of light used in wayang performance in Java is most often a halogen electric light.

Music

A gamelan is a traditional musical ensemble from Indonesia, typically from the islands of Java and Bali, that features a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, kendang (drums), gongs, bamboo flutes, and bowed and plucked strings. Vocalists may also be included.

For most Indonesians, gamelan music is an integral part of Indonesian culture. The term refers more to the set of instruments rather than to the players of those instruments. A gamelan is a set of instruments as a distinct entity, built and tuned to stay together, and instruments from different gamelan are generally not interchangeable.

This current-day photo shows a Javanese gamelan ensemble performance during a traditional Javanese Yogyakarta-style wedding ceremony. — Javanese gamelan: A Javanese gamelan ensemble performance during a traditional Javanese Yogyakarta-style wedding ceremony.

In Javanese mythology, the gamelan was created by Sang Hyang Guru in the Saka era 167 (c. CE 230). He is considered the god who ruled as king of all Java from a palace on the Maendra mountain in Medang Kamulan (now Mount Lawu). He needed a signal to summon the gods and thus invented the gong. For more complex messages, he invented two other gongs, thus forming the original gamelan set.

Variations of gamelan ensembles are distinguished by their collection of instruments and their use of voice, tunings, repertoire, style , and cultural context. In general, no two gamelan ensembles are the same, and those that arose in prestigious courts are often considered to have their own style. Certain styles may also be shared by nearby ensembles, leading to a regional style.

Silat

Silat is a class of indigenous martial arts from the area of Southeast Asia encompassing most of the Nusantara, the Indonesian Archipelago, the Malay Archipelago, and the entirety of the Malay Peninsula. The art of silat was created and first developed in the islands of Java and Sumatra. It is an art for survival shaped by centuries of tribal wars in Indonesian history.

Silat was used to determine rank and social position in old Indonesian kingdoms; it was also used by Indonesian freedom fighters during their struggle against Dutch colonists. Unfortunately, after Indonesia achieved its independence, silat became less popular among Indonesian youth compared to foreign martial arts like karate and tae kwon do.

This is a current-day photo of two men practicing Silat Minangkabaut, a particular form of silat, outdoors. — Silat Minangkabaut: Silat Minangkabaut, a particular form of silat.

Blacksmithing and Wood Carving

For the Javanese, blacksmiths are traditionally valued. Javanese blacksmiths provide a range of tools, such as farming equipment and fire-arms, and cultural items, such as gamelan instruments.

The kris is an asymmetrical dagger with a distinctive blade pattern achieved through alternating laminations of iron and nickelous iron; many heirloom kris made by master blacksmiths in Java hold significant historical value . The Javanese art of wood carving is traditionally applied to various cultural attributes such as statues, wayang dolls, and masks.

This photo shows a kris and an axe. The kris is an asymmetrical dagger noted for its distinctive wavy blade patterning.

Kris and other weapons: The kris is an asymmetrical dagger noted for its distinctive wavy blade patterning.

Architecture

Throughout their long history, the Javanese have produced many important buildings, ranging from Hindu monuments, Buddhist stupa , mortuary temples, palace complexes, and mosques . The paragon of religious monuments are the Hindu temple of Prambanan and the Buddhist temple of Borobudur, both were built in the 9th century near the city of Yogyakarta.

An example of secular architecture can be seen in ruins of the former capital city of the Majapahit Kingdom (which ruled from the 14th to 16th century CE) in Trowulan, East Java. The complex consists of various brick buildings, purification pools, temples, and iconic split gates.

Traditional Javanese buildings can be identified by their trapezoidal roofs that are supported by wooden pillars. Another common feature in Javanese buildings is the pendopo, a pavilion with open sides and four large pillars. The pillars and other parts of the buildings are often richly carved.

Traditional mosques in Java maintain a distinctive Javanese style with both the pendopo and a trapezoidal roof, rather than the more typical dome and minarets . The roofs are often multitiered and tiled. The split gate from an earlier Hindu-Buddhist period is still used in many mosques and public buildings in Java. Some notable examples of mosques that use traditional Javanese architecture include the mosques at Agung Demak, Menara Kudus, and Banten.